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Wednesday, November 9, 2016

BBC: Trump described golf buddy Najib as his 'favourite PM'

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's penchant for golf appears to have won him another ally in the White House.

The BBC reported that president elect Donald Trump is the Malaysian leader’s “golfing buddy”.

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Office told the BBC that Najib has a signed photograph of Trump and himself on his desk.

Trump inscribed the photograph "To my favourite PM", stated BBC in its live coverage of the presidential election.

Prior to this, Najib had teed off with Trump's predecessor Barack Obama in Hawaii.

Met at the sidelines of an event in Kuala Lumpur after the results were announced, Najib said he has a personal relationship with Trump.

"I know him personally, he is not a stranger to me," he told reporters.

US DOJ suit

Meanwhile in Parliament, Nurul Izzah Anwar hoped the election results would not affect the US Department of Justice (DOJ) suit regarding the alleged abuse of 1MDB funds.

Training her guns on Najib, the PKR vice-president claimed the latter is able to dodge numerous things because of his position.

“This is thanks to his supreme control of the government, and different branches of democracy in Malaysia,” she added when met in Parliament.

To be fair, the Lembah Pantai MP said DOJ had always taken actions in a rather independent manner.

“I hope and believe the DOJ case won't be affected by Trump's presidency,” she added in response to the US presidential election results.

The DOJ documents did not name Najib, but mentioned an individual as “Malaysian Official 1".

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan later confirmed it was in reference to Najib, but pointed out that since the prime minister was not named, the DOJ is not investigating him.

The DOJ however named the prime minister’s stepson Riza Aziz and Malaysian-born millionaire Jho Low, who is said to be close to Najib’s family.

Najib has denied abusing public funds for personal gain and has been cleared of any wrongdoing by the Malaysian authorities.- Mkini